King of the Jews!

During middle school and high school kids are mean. People find every excuse to make fun of someone and hurt them whether that be physically or mentally. Unfortunately, I have been in both sides of this behavior and no matter which side I've been on my worst behavior seems to shine through.
When people mock me based on false rumors, or what seems to be more common, a twist to the truth, my anger comes out and it is not good. I always end up swooping down to their level but maybe even lower. Getting mocked, ridiculed, or teased never sits well for me and I don't think it does for anyone. Recently some things have come up where I've tried to stay strong but I keep cracking. I need guidance from Jesus, after all he does better than anyone during times like this.
Soldiers hung a sign above Jesus saying "king of the Jews" and hit him, teased him, and mocked him, yet Jesus kept His cool. I've always wondered how and why He was able to do this because I know that I never would have been able to but the answer lies at the end of today's reading. Jesus lets them know that they have no power of Him.
Reading:
-John 19:1-11
Reflect:
-How do you react when being teased or treated unfairly?
-Do you react in a way that's simply giving people power over you when they never had it to begin with?
-What can you do to be more like Jesus when others ridicule you?
-Ask Jesus for help in your struggles. Ask Him for guidance so that you may become more like Him in the way you react to times like this and in life in general.

Colossians 3:8, 12-13: Rules for Holy Living

Happiness, sadness, frustration, nervous, tired, anger. There are so many different emotions you can feel. Lately, I've been feeling lots of anger. Anger at my friends, family, sometimes even God. I know that I have no reason to ever be mad at God, He didn't do anything. God says a lot about anger, rage, fury, etc., in the bible. In Psalm 37:8-9 God says, "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land." God is saying when you turn towards kindness and forgiveness you will you will go to Heaven. God is never angry at us, no matter what we do, or say, as long as we ask for forgiveness we will always be rewarded with it.

Reading: Colossians 3:8, 12-13

Reflecting:

- How can you replace the anger you feel with happiness?

-When you feel angry at God, how does that make you feel? How can you change that so you don't feel angry at him?

-What is your interpretation of Colossians 3:8, 12-13, and how can you apply it to your life?

I am the Vine

One thing I let myself forget sometimes is how much I need God. I am 18 and I tend to think I'm invincible, when in all reality I am not. I am far from and without God I am nothing. I need God and I need his word in many ways to be able function and more specifically, function as He would want me too. I am so thankful that God has given me His word and His hand and hasn't kept anything from me. I think God tries so hard to be friends with each and every one of us and some people do better with this then others.
Today's reading is my absolute favorite in the entire Bible. I feel such a connection to it and I feel like God is speaking right to me when I read it.
Reading:
John 15:1-17
Reflect:
-Do you keep in mind that you need God to be truly good?
-Do you think of God as a friend or rather a master?
-Do you truly try to love everyone, even people you feel deserve to be hated?

The Power of Prayer

To be honest, I sometimes struggle with prayer. Sure, I usually pray everyday, but am I really praying? Was "Dear, God bless me and my family today" really a prayer? It can be, if you say it and really mean it. If you mumble it for the sake of "saying" it, then no; but if you really say it from deep down it can be. As long as you really mean it, anything can be a prayer. I think there are 6 main things prayer can do including, having a deeper relationship with God, increases faith, provides a place to unload burdens, teaches us that God is always near, trains us not to panic, and it changes lives. Today, we're going to read a few different bible verses that I think show  us and teach us many different things about prayer. With prayer, anything is possible. 

Reading: Philippians 4:6-7, Luke 18:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Romans 12:12

Reflecting: 

-How can you have peace and live a life that is free from anxiety according to Philippians 4:6-7?

-What does Jesus say in Luke 18:1 and how can we live like that?

-What does Thessalonians 5:16-18 say about "the recipe" to a wonderful life?

-When it comes to prayer, what does Romans 12:12 say?

Choosing your battles

Every single day we fight for something. We fight to win an argument. We fight to prove a point. We fight for materials. We fight for the opinions of someone. Many people are even fighting for their lives. I am very competitive and when I look closely at my day to day life I see so many pointless fights. Often I catch myself, usually when it's too late, almost searching for reasons to fight about/for something. I have come to realize that I need to start fighting for one thing and one thing alone. God. If each fight I chose revolves around God I will win every battle. I am a firm believer, a child, and I think I have a pretty strong relationship in God. From today's reading I know that God will help me win every fight as long as its for him.
In this chapter David goes against Goliath. David, who is just a young boy wears no armor and has no weapons besides a sling shot, but yet he takes down the strong, mighty, dominate Goliath. Why? Because he was fighting for God.
Reading:
- 1 Samuel 17
Reflect:
-Do you need to choose your battles more carefully?
- Are you waisting valuable time fighting pointless fights?
- If so what can you do to have a change of heart and start fighting for God and for God alone?

Disabilities and fallbacks.

As a kid with a rough home life I often wondered what I did to deserve this. Even before I really knew God I knew that there was something much bigger than me out there and I couldn't help but feel that I must've done something to deserve all the wrong that had been done to me throughout my life.
As I've grown older, moved out of my parents house and became an adult of my own I have taken the time to strengthen my walk with God and gotten to know him. Last night I was reading the Bible and something that really stuck out to me was God discussing a mans disability. He makes it very clear that no one did anything wrong to cause that man to be born blind. Jesus says this happened so that the works of God could be displayed in him.
I personally feel that everyone has some form of disability or fall back that they feel keeps them from being this non-existent normal that people have made up in their head. Today's reading says that those fallbacks are just ways for God to use us to show how amazing He is.
Reading:
-John 9:1-12
Reflect:
-Do you think that you have a fallback that God can use to show his works?
-Will you actually allow God to work through you or do you refuse to be better than your disability?
-God can use each and everyone of us, what can you do to let Him use you?

Luke 15:11-32: The Parable of the Lost Son

I struggle with forgiveness a lot. I am always saying, "Oh, I forgive you" or "Oh, please forgive me". But do I really mean it? Or am I just saying that because it's the right thing to do? Typically I feel guilty if I do something wrong and I always say sorry, but is that being forgiven?

In Luke 15:11-32, there was a man who had two sons. His son wanted his share of the estate, so the father split it between the two sons. The one son ran off and spent all his money, when a famine hit and he had to return home to his father. He planned on begging his father for forgiveness and to hire him as a worker, but his father treated him like royalty. His brother was very angry and asked why his brother was being treated like royalty when he had gone out and sinned against his father and he had never disobeyed him and never even gotten a small goat in return. His father exclaimed, " My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

God forgives us every time we sin, all we have to do is confess. It's comforting to know that we can't do anything that God won't forgive us for. Whatever we do, no matter how bad, all we have to do is ask God to forgive our sins and He will.

Reading: Luke 15:11-32

Reflection:

How do you feel knowing that God will always forgive you, no matter what, as long as you confess?

How would you feel if you were the brother who was the one who stayed and worked at the estate?

why do you think the father treated his son like that after he went out and spent all his money?

Judges 10:6-16. He will return.

We did a post not too long that touched on the subject of God always returning and that no one can be too far gone. This reading is all about that. The people in this story were doing all the wrong things, worshipping false Gods, they quit serving the Lord and He became angry with them. As soon as something bad happened they decided they need God in their life again and He tells them to let their new Gods save them. I think this is so powerful because these people are asking for the Lord because in their hearts they know their false Gods wont be of any help. But in the last two verses they give up their false Gods and start worshipping the Lord alone and he could bear Israel's misery no longer. After all the wrong these people did God STILL loved them and couldn't bear to see them struggling. All these people had to do to gain Gods hand was simply repent. They expressed their sins, the fact they were in the wrong and God reached out His hand for them and they were saved.


Reflect: 

Are you making choices that anger God? 

All of us sin. Do you make a conscious effort of repenting so God canreach his hand out for you? 

When you think hard about it are you really so much better than these people?

Reading: 


-Judges 10:6-16

Luke 10:38-42: The Story of Martha and Mary

Everyone has bad days; days where you just feel cranky, annoyed, and stressed out. You'll flip out on anyone, for no apparent reason. Well, you're not alone. Everyone has bad days, including a lady named Martha, who was a friend of Jesus. Jesus and his disciples were coming over to Martha and her sister, Mary's house. Martha should have been rejoicing and worshiping God like her sister Mary was doing, instead she was running around the house, trying to get things perfect for Jesus. Martha was furious that her sister was just sitting there, at Jesus' feet, not doing anything, so she went up to God, and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me". God simply answered, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her".

Mary had made the better choice because she demonstrated a heart devoted to God by worshiping him and hearing his word. She also did her fair share of work, but made sure that she had the time to take care of her devotion and commitment to God. I know that some of us are very busy people and think that we don't have enough time to devote to God. There are many ways that we can have time for God. Would you be willing to

say no to watching a TV show? 

say no to hanging out with your friends? 

say no to going to a movie, so you can

say yes to spending time with God. 

In Revelation 3:15-16, God says, " I know your deeds, that you are neither cold  nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth." In this scripture, you know which heart condition God thinks is the worst. To be coldhearted means to be unemotional, unconscious of God. To be lukewarm, means to be indifferent. The third heat temperature is to be hot-hearted. Hot-hearted means that the heat of your and emotion reaches a high temperature. Such high heat is usually paired with violent activity, emotion, excitement, and passion. Which is the heart of someone [you!] who's committed to God. Which one do you want to be? I think the obvious choice is number three!

Reading: Luke 10:38-42

Reflecting:

How can you make time to devote to God?

Compare the two sisters. What are the differences between the words they say, their actions, attitudes, and interactions with Jesus?

If you were in Mary and Martha's position, do you think you would be more like Martha or Mary? If you were like Martha how can you change that?

Do you consider yourself to be hot cold-hearted, lukewarm, or hot-hearted? If you're not hot-hearted, which one do you think you are? How can you change that?

 

The Power of Friendship

To be honest with you I don't have very many friends. I have my family and then a handful of people I keep close. I am 18 years old and many kids my age are still concerned with being popular and well-known. This just isn't a concern to me because I know that that handful of people will be there for me through and through and they have proven this time and time again. In the old testament the book of Ruth is such a powerful statement of friendship and family bonds.

In Ruth a woman, Naomi, loses her husband and then two sons and is left only with her daughter in-laws. Naomi decides she is going to go back to her hometown because there is nothing there for her anymore. Her two daughter in-laws protest but Naomi insisted that they go back to where they came from. One girl agrees to go but Ruth insists on staying with her mother in law. This was a huge deal in these Bible days because then a God was considered to rule only over one geographical region. A Moabite (what Ruth and her sister Orpah were) were going to be a disadvantage in Israel and Naomi didn't expect them to believe in her God. Pay special attention to verses 1:16-18 because these show a huge sacrifice. Ruth is willing to leave her own God no matter what it cost her to be with her mother in law. How many people do you know that would do this for you?

Reading:

Ruth 1.

Reflection:

-Do you surround yourself with people like Ruth who are willing to sacrifice everything, including the wrath of God for you?

-Are you a loving enough person to do this for anyone?

-Who knows what Ruth would have done had the circumstances been different. How much would it take for you to do this for someone? Death, sickness, or that they're just plain lonely?

Trust- that sim...

Trust- that simple five letter word. After suffering from severe anxiety since I was seven years old I have sometimes doubted my ability to trust God. Since God hasn't "cured" my anxiety the way I have wanted him too, it makes it even harder to trust him. One of the most frequent things people say to me is, "Just trust God". I almost feel embarrassed when people say that because I just can't. They make it sound like its as simple as breathing, when for some people who are going through tough times, it's not that easy.
I think after going through a rough time in your life, you start to doubting God. I think learning to trust God again can be a hard, but possible process made of up of three main steps. The first step is to find passages in the Bible that help you trust God. Secondly, I had to change my thinking so it was consistent with the passage in the bible. And third was too change my actions so they would be consistent with my new way of thinking. This is no easy process- I'm not even at the point where I can completely trust God, and just give him all my worries. I know that with his guidance and strength, I can get to the point of being able to trust Him- 110%.
One of my favorite verses in the bible is Proverbs 3:5, which states, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know." I love this verse because I think it is speaking directly to me. I feel like I always think I know whats going to happen, that I'm in complete control, when really God is the only person who knows whats going to happen and when. I tend to "what-if" a lot. What if this? What if that? Those thoughts consume me- day and night. I have to take comfort in knowing that God is in control. Whatever he does is part of His special plan.
In today's reading, God is telling us not to worry, he says in Luke 12:22, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear." He is telling us that if we pursue His kingdom- all the things we need will be provided! When we trust in God, He will always provide. He will never let us down.
Reading: Luke 12:22-31
Reflect:
How do you feel when you are having trouble trusting God?
Do you have trouble trusting God after a tragedy or something bad happens? Why?
How does it make you feel knowing that God will never let you down, that he will always provide for your needs?

Luke 15

Many times I have sat like this girl with my head between my knees wondering where my life was going and what directions I should go. I have made many mistakes and my life and know that no matter how hard I try I will always make more. Fortunately, I am now more conscious of my decisions and the path I am on then I was a few years ago and from reading the Bible I know that Jesus rejoiced in this.
I feel that many people make the mistake in believing they have strayed too far from God when this is far from the truth. As you will see in todays reading God celebrates a son, or daughter, returning to Him. There is no such thing as straying too far from God.
In todays reading we see a shepherd leave 99 of his sheep to find one lost one, this is just what God does for us, and He will celebrate one sinner repenting so much more so than 99 righteous people. There is no limit of Gods love and forgiveness even as you continue to struggle with sin. I have one sin that I personally continue to struggle with. God knows our weaknesses even better than we do and He knows that in one way or another we will mess up again.
When you do mess up again how will you choose to deal with it? Will you be like the Israelites who hardened their hearts and quit talking to God? (Heb. 3:7-9). You should never let this happen to you! No matter what trials or tribulations you may be experiencing, no matter how lost you may feel, and no matter how much you think "there's no way God can forgive me" you must seek God with all your heart. (Dt. 4:29)
Reading:
-Luke 15.
Reflect:
-When you know you sin time after time again how do you deal with this?
-After reading about God's unconditional love how do you feel?
-What about the fact God and his angels want to throw a party for you? Time to spend more time repenting? :)
Post your answers, thoughts, concerns or feedback in the comments! :)

Lost

Many times I have sat like this girl with my head between my knees wondering where my life was going and what directions I should go. I have made many mistakes and my life and know that no matter how hard I try I will always make more. Fortunately, I am now more conscious of my decisions and the path I am on then I was a few years ago and from reading the Bible I know that Jesus rejoiced in this.

I feel that many people make the mistake in believing they have strayed too far from God when this is far from the truth. As you will see in todays reading God celebrates a son, or daughter, returning to Him. There is no such thing as straying too far from God.

In todays reading we see a shepherd leave 99 of his sheep to find one lost one, this is just what God does for us, and He will celebrate one sinner repenting so much more so than 99 righteous people. There is no limit of Gods love and forgiveness even as you continue to struggle with sin. I have one sin that I personally continue to struggle with. God knows our weaknesses even better than we do and He knows that in one way or another we will mess up again.

When you do mess up again how will you choose to deal with it? Will you be like the Israelites who hardened their hearts and quit talking to God? (Heb. 3:7-9). You should never let this happen to you! No matter what trials or tribulations you may be experiencing, no matter how lost you may feel, and no matter how much you think "there's no way God can forgive me" you must seek God with all your heart. (Dt. 4:29)

Reading:

-Luke 15.

Reflect:

-When you know you sin time after time again how do you deal with this?

-After reading about God's unconditional love how do you feel?

-What about the fact God and his angels want to throw a party for you? Time to spend more time repenting? :)

Post your answers, thoughts, concerns or feedback in the comments! :)

Hi all!

Sometimes we all need a fresh start. Haley and I started this blog so we could get one and give all our readers one. Haley had a blog before this called teenagebiblestudy.wordpress.com. If you were following her before, we encourage you to follow this one. Even if you didn't follow Haley's blog before, please follow this one. This blog is going to be a place where we can cover a wide array of topics all revolving around the Bible. Faith, trust, hope, prayer, and so much more. Our goal is to post everyday but sometimes we might not get around to it. We love comments and emails, so feel free too give advice, feedback, criticism, anything. We hope you'll start this journey with us and follow us as we strive to extend His hand.. for you, for us, and most importantly for Him.